Ha Noi targets social housing

A corner of Cau Giay District in Ha Noi with several on-going construction projects. The city aims to build 3.1 million sq.m of social housing by 2020. — VNS Photo Thai Ha

HA NOI (VNS) — Ha Noi authorities have vowed to speed up the construction of 12 social housing projects aimed for completion next year.

The additional 812,000 sq.m will increase the total area of low-income housing to about 1.3 million sq.m.

The project is part of the city's 2015 to 2020 housing development plan released last week. Other targets include developing 95,400 sq.m of houses for workers, 59,900 sq.m of student housing, 221,100 sq.m for resettlement housing and about 2.4 million sq.m for commercial housing.

Also next year, the city has planned to revoke land use rights for about 1,300 hectares of land so it can build 565 new social and economic development projects. The money for compensation, site clearance and resettlement will come from the city's budget.

Ha Noi authorities aim to build 3.1 million sq.m of social housing by 2020. But the city's People's Committee said the target would only meet 52 per cent of demand.

A recent survey by Ha Noi's Department of Construction predicts that by 2020, demand for low-income housing will increase by nearly 50 per cent. It attributes the rise to the growing trend of migrant workers from rural areas buying subsidised houses instead of renting.

Houses take up 165.3 million sq.m in Ha Noi, according to statistics. The average amount of housing space per person is estimated to be 22.5 sq.m. Those in urban areas have 26.4 sq.m per person, while rural areas only have 19.1 sq.m per person.

However, some criteria for housing for low-income people, workers, students and people who have been resettled are reportedly inaccurate. — VNS